The Roosevelt Myth

ON JANUARY 20, 1941, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, ON THE FRONT
steps of the Capitol in keeping with tradition since the early days of
the Republic, was sworn in as President of the United States for
the third time--in defiance of a far more important tradition. The
President addressed himself to those who doubt democracy. He
pointed out how under his leadership democracy had survived a
crisis at home here in America. And then he said: "Nol! Democracy
is not dying . . . We sense it still spreading on every continent."
At that very moment it was dying on every continent and had been
profoundly weakened in America. The address was couched on a
high spiritual note intended to be a document for the ages. Who
wrote it is not known. Certainly Roosevelt did not. It bears none
of the stigmata of Roosevelt's own style save perhaps in the last
four brief sentences, and was worlds below the quality of his first
inaugural. Actually it said nothing and did not mention the war.
Already men were being called into the military services by conscription. Eighteen billion dollars for national defense had been appropriated. The Times noted that the federal debt apparently had
been forgotten. Men were moving in great numbers into the factories all over the land. There were no victory balls, no marching
groups, but the index of business activity was marching up week
after week until for the first time it would top the great peak of
the highest prosperity in 1929. Millions of men were already in
jobs or moving into jobs who had not worked in years. Two hundred
and twenty-five flying fortresses and pursuit planes staged a great
show over the White House. The soldiers who marched in the inaugural parade were real soldiers now. General Marshall, as chief

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